Managing plant disease risk in diversified cropping systems

Diversification of cereal cropping systems with alternative crops, such as oilseed, pulse, and forage crops, furnishes producers with a range of agronomic and economic options. Crop diversification also improves management of plant diseases through manipulation of host factors such as crop and cultivar selection; interruption of disease cycles through crop rotation, fungicide application. and removal of weeds and volunteer crop plants; and modification of the microenvironment within the crop canopy using tillage practices and stand density. Management practices, such as seed treatment, date and rate of seeding. balanced fertility, control of weeds, field scouting, harvest management, and record keeping, can also be utilized to manage plant diseases. This review evaluates the risks to diversified crop production systems associated with the major plant diseases in the northern Great Plains and the influence of host, pathogen, and environmental factors on disease control. Principles to help producers reduce and manage the risk from plant diseases are presented, and discussion includes strategies for countering fusarium head blight (Fusarium spp.). commonly called scab; and leaf spot diseases in cereals; sclerotinia stem rot [Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) De Bary] in oilseed and pulse crops; and ascochyta blight (Ascochyta lentis Vassil.; teleomorph: Didymella lentis Kaiser, Wang & Rogers) and anthracnose blight [Colletotrichum truncatum (Schwein.) Andrus & W.D. Moore] in pulse crops. Producers should not rely exclusively on a single management practice but rather integrate a combination of practices to develop a consistent long-term strategy for disease management that is suited to their production system and location.